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Access for disabled people

Our aim is to make council services more accessible and easier to use for people who may have language, hearing or mobility issues.

Interpretation and translation services

If you contact the council either by telephone or in person at one of our offices, we can arrange for a three-way telephone conversation where interpreters accurately and securely pass on information between the customer and the council or partner representative. If you have limited spoken English then please let the customer service staff know which language you would like to communicate in and what your enquiry is about.

If your enquiry is more complex or will take quite a while to resolve we may need to book an interpreter to attend for appointments, meetings and interviews.

In some cases, where interpretation cannot give you all the information you need, you may need written information in your own language as well. We can arrange for letters and leaflets to be translated where necessary and send these direct to your home within a few days.

British Sign Language (BSL)

If you need a sign language interpreter, please let us know. The more notice you can give us, the easier it will be for us to find one at a time that's convenient to you.

Deaf people can also call us using SignVideo web access, an online interpreting service, from their own home. You can find out how to access this free service on the BSL signed video service page.

Accessible formats

If you need information in a different format that is accessible to you then please let us know. We frequently arrange for letters and leaflets to be produced in accessible formats such as:

large print

Braille

audio tape or cd

electronic (by email or on CD-rom)

Easy Read

We can usually arrange for these to be produced within two days and send them to you directly.

Access to buildings

Public areas in all of the councils buildings have been independently assessed as being accessible to disabled people apart from a limited number of circumstances where historic buildings cannot be fully adapted.

All of our public buildings have also been surveyed for their disability access by Disabled Go. You can find details of the accessibility of any council buildings (and hundreds of other shops and services in Barnsley) by visiting our Disabled Go webpage or directly through the Disabled Go website.

Many of our buildings also have facilities for baby-changing and for areas mothers to breast feed in privacy. Please note however that mothers are welcome to breast feed in public areas. Breast feeding facilities are there to provide mothers with choice.

Text Relay (formerly Type Talk)

Royal National Institute for the Deaf and hard of hearing people (RNID) operate a national telephone relay service known as RNID Text Relay. The service is for deaf, deafened, hard of hearing, deafblind and speech-impaired people. It provides a link between any textphone user and an operator and it is a discreet and confidential service.

If you would like to use the service you should dial 18001 then 01226 followed by the full telephone number of the service you require from your textphone.

The call will be answered by an RNID Text Relay operator who is brought into the call. They will then assist you with your call and act as a communicator for the service required. This service is funded by BT and calls are charged at the local rate.

Mini Com

Deaf and hearing impaired customers can contact us on our Mini Com number (01226) 772772.